Great Facts About the Five Great Lakes Great Facts About the Five Great Lakes By Kim Ann Zimmermann, Live Science Contributor | May 3, 2013 06:40pm ET MORE Credit: Stasys Eidiejus Shutterstock The Great Lakes — Superior, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Erie — make up the largest body of fresh water on Earth, accounting for one-fifth of the freshwater surface on the planet at 6 quadrillion gallons. The area of all the Great Lakes is 95,160 square miles (246,463 square kilometers). The lakes are on the U.S.-Canadian border, touching Ontario in Canada and Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York in the United States. About 34 million people in the United States and Canada live in the Great Lakes basin. More than 3,500 species of plants and animals inhabit the Great Lakes basin, including 170-plus species of fish. Today, the Great Lakes are popular recreation spots for boating, fishing and other recreational activities and still serve as an important mode of transportation of goods, but they have not always been in their current form.

About 14,000 years ago, the Great Lakes area was covered with a glacier that was more than a half-mile (1 km) thick. As the glacier melted, it slowly moved toward Canada and left behind a series of large depressions that filled with water. These formed the basic shape of the Great Lakes, and about 10,000 years ago the Great Lakes took the form that is familiar today. The Mackinac Bridge connects Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas at the straits between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Credit: lphoto Shutterstock While the area had been inhabited for a very long time before European explorers arrived, Étienne Brûlé (circa 1592-1632), an advance man for the French explorer Samuel de Champlain (circa 1567-1635), is generally credited as the first European to discover the Great Lakes. Brûlé is believed to have reached Lake Huron around 1615, and went on to explore Lake Ontario. There are a number of rivers and tributaries connecting the Great Lakes.

The Straits of Mackinac connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and there is such a steady flow of water between these two bodies that they could be considered one lake. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are connected by the Niagara River, including Niagara Falls. The St. Lawrence River connects Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which leads out to the Atlantic Ocean. The Great Lakes are dotted with more than 30,000 islands. While many of the islands are small and uninhabitable, the largest is Lake Huron’s Manitoulin Island (1,068 square miles or 2,766 square km), which is also the largest island in any inland body of water on the planet. There have been a number of shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, as storms and reefs can make navigation treacherous. The last and one of the most famous shipwrecks was that of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on Nov. 10, 1975, killing the crew of 29.

Quick facts about the five Great Lakes: Lake Erie: The name was derived from erielhonan, the Iroquoian word for long tail, which describes its shape. It is the fourth largest of the Great Lakes when measured in surface area (9,910 square miles / 25,700 square km.) and the smallest by water volume (116 cubic miles / 484 cubic km). Lake Huron: Named for the Wyandot Indians, or Hurons, who lived there.Lake Huron is the second largest Great Lake by surface area (23,000 square miles / 59,600 square km) and has the longest shoreline (3,827 miles / 6,157 km), taking into account its many islands. A view of Niagara Falls (Horseshoe Falls) from the Canadian side. What states border Michigan? | Reference.com What states border Michigan? A: Quick Answer Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin are the states that border the state of Michigan. It is also bordered by the Great Lakes.

Full Answer In addition to the four states that border Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Superior also border the state. It also borders Canada. Michigan is the 11th biggest state in the United States with 96,810 square miles. The highest point in the state is Mount Arvon, which rises 1,978 feet above sea level. It also boasts a number of rivers, including the Detroit River, Grand River, Kalamazoo River and St. Marys River. As of 2013, there were more than 9.8 million people who lived in Michigan. DEQ - Great Lakes Map DEQ To remember the Great Lakes names, remember the word "HOMES." H=Huron E=Erie S=Superior The Great Lakes contain the largest supply of fresh water on earth; 20% of the earth's total fresh water; 9,402 miles of shoreline; and 94,710 total square miles of surface area (about the size of Texas). The Great Lakes basin is a 295,200 square mile area within which all surface area drains into the Great Lakes.

It includes parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ontario and Quebec. Lake Superior "Uppermost Lake" (French); Kitchi-gummi, a Chippewa Indian translation, signifies "Great Water," or "Great Lake." A Jesuit name, "Lac Tracy," was never officially adopted. Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes by surface area and volume, and rich in natural resources. Surface Area: 31,700 mi2 / 82,100 km2 Volume: 2,934 mi3 / 12,230 km3 Length: 350 mi / 563 km Depth: 489 ft / 149 m average; 1,335 ft / 407 m maximum Shoreline Length: 2,726 miles / 4,385 km (including islands) Elevation: 600 ft / 183 m Outlet: St. Marys River to Lake Huron Retention/Replacement Time: 191 years Lake Michigan Champlain called it the Grand Lac.

It was later named "Lake of the Stinking Water" or "Lake of the Puants," after the people of other nations who occupied its shores. In 1679, the lake became known as Lac des Illinois, because it gave access to the country of the Indians of that name. Allouez called it Lac St. Joseph, by which name it was often designated by early writers. Others called it Lac Dauphine. Through the further explorations of Jolliet and Marquette, it received its final name of Michigan, Algonquian for "Great Water." Michigan is the third largest Great Lake (although Lake Huron-Michigan, at 45,300 mi2 / 117,400 km2 is technically the world's largest freshwater lake.

This is because what have traditionally been called Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are really giant lobes of a single lake connected by the five mile wide Strait of Mackinac.) Surface Area: 22,278 mi2 / 57,750 km2 Volume: 1,180 mi3 / 4,920 km3 Length: 307 mi / 494 km Depth: 279 ft / 85 m average; 925 ft / 282 m maximum Shoreline Length: 1,659 miles / 2,670 km (including islands) Elevation: 581 ft / 177 m Outlet: Straits of Mackinac to Lake Huron Retention/Replacement Time: 99 years Lake Huron Since its French discoverers knew nothing as yet of the other lakes, they called it La Mer Douce, the sweet or fresh-water sea. A Sanson map in 1656 refers to it as Karegnondi.

Huron is the second largest Great Lake (although Lake Huron-Michigan, at 45,300 mi2 / 117,400 km2 is technically the world's largest freshwater lake. This is because what have traditionally been called Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are really giant lobes of a single lake connected by the five mile wide Strait of Mackinac.) It has the longest shoreline of the Great Lakes, counting its 30,000 islands. Surface Area: 22,973 mi2 / 59,500 km2 Volume: 850 mi3 / 3,540 km3 Length: 206 mi / 331 km Depth: 194 ft / 59 m average; 748 ft / 229 m maximum Shoreline Length: 3,827 miles / 6,157 km (including islands) Elevation: 581 ft / 177 m Outlet: St.

Clair River to Lake Erie Retention/Replacement Time: 22 years Lake Erie The greater part of its southern shore was at one time occupied by the Eries, a tribe of Indians from which the lake derived its name. This name is always mentioned by the early French writers as meaning "cat"; Lac du Chat means "Lake of the Cat." Many attribute this reference to the wild cat or panther. Lake Erie is the fourth largest Great Lake and is the shallowest and warmest. Surface Area: 9,906 mi2 / 25,657 km2 Volume: 116 mi3 / 483 km3 Length: 210 mi / 338 km Depth: 62 ft / 19 m average; 210 ft / 64 m maximum Shoreline Length: 871 miles / 1,400 km (including islands) Elevation: 571 ft / 174 m Outlet: Niagara River and Welland Canal Retention/Replacement Time: 2.6 years (shortest of the Great Lakes) Lake Ontario Champlain first called it Lake St. Louis in 1632.

On a Sanson map in 1656, it remained Lac de St. Louis. In 1660, Creuxius gave it the name Lacus Ontarius. Ontara in Iroquois means "lake," and Ontario, "beautiful lake." Ontario is the smallest in surface area of the Great Lakes. Wisconsin State Information - Symbols, Capital, Constitution, Flags, Maps, Songs Wisconsin Fun Facts and Trivia Flag: Starting at the top of a shield on a dark blue field is the state motto "Forward". Below it is a badger the state animal. A sailor and miner show that the people work on water and land. The shield in the center shows Wisconsin's support for the United States. In four sections surrounding the shield are representations of the states main industries: agriculture, mining, manufacturing and navigation. The cornucopia and pile of lead represent farm products and minerals. The flag law was amended in 1979 to include the name of the state and the date of statehood.

Get this Flag Flower: Great Lakes and Wisconsin Water Facts Great Lakes and Wisconsin Water Facts Credit: Great Lakes and Fresh Water Just 3 percent of the world’s water exists as fresh water—2 percent is locked in the polar ice caps; less than 1 percent resides in freshwater lakes and streams. The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater system on Earth. The Great Lakes contain an estimated 5,500 cubic miles (22,700 cubic kilometers)of water—a fifth of all the liquid surface fresh water on Earth. And, it's enough to submerge the continental United States in nearly 10 feet of water. The United States draws more than 40 billion gallons (151 million liters) of water from the Great Lakes every day—half of which is used for electrical power production. Nearly a tenth of the U.S. population lives in the Great Lakes basin. More than 35 million people rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water, jobs and their way of life. That breaks down to 24 million people in the U.s. and about 9.8 million in Canada. That's roughly 8 percent of the U.S. population and 32 percent of Canada's.

The Great Lakes support one of the world's largest regional economies, including a $7 billion fishery and $16 billion tourism industry. More than 3,500 species of plants and animals live in the Great Lakes basin. More than 170 species of fish inhabit the Great Lakes, their tributaries and connecting Credit: waterways. Wisconsin Waters About 6.4 million acres (2.6 million hectares) of Lakes Michigan and Superior and 95,000 cres (38,445 hectares) of the Upper Mississippi River lie within Wisconsin’s borders. Wisconsin has more than 15,000 lakes and 82,000 miles of streams and rivers. Almost 3 percent of Wisconsin’s area—nearly a million acres (405,000 hectares)—is lakes. Wisconsin has about 1.2 million billion gallons (4.5 million billion liters) of water underground—if it were above ground, it would submerge the state in 100 feet (30 meters) of water. Nearly one-third of prehistoric, postglacial Wisconsin was wetlands.

Nearly half of the estimated 10 million acres of presettlement wetlands have been lost. Wisconsin’s 11 coastal counties contain more than 1.2 million acres of wetlands (486,000 hectares)—nearly a fourth of all of the state’s remaining wetlands. The wettest is Marinette County with nearly 228,000 acres (92,000 hectares) Waterways and Byways (325 kilometers) of Mississippi River shoreline. Nearly 86 percent of Wisconsin's 1,730-border is water. There are 2,444 trout streams in Wisconsin—put end to end, they would stretch more than 956 miles (1,540 kilometers). With 28 lakes, the Eagle River chain of lakes is the largest in the world. More than a third of Wisconsin’s population lives in the 11 counties forming its Lake Michigan coast; 24 percent live in the three southeast coastal counties of Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha. Wisconsin has more than 500,000 registered motorboats—about one for every 10 residents.

Anglers net about 67 million fish a year from Wisconsin waters, including more than 500,000 Great Lakes trout and salmon. At least 160 nonindigenous aquatic species have colonized Great Lakes waters—over half of them since the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. Wisconsin’s power and water utilities spend about $5 million annually trying to protect water intakes from zebra mussels. Highly Valued Assets The assessed value of Lake Michigan lakeshore property in just one Wisconsin county— Door County—is almost $2 billion. Each year, Wisconsin’s 12 active harbors on Lakes Michigan and Superior handle a total of more than 40 million tons (40 billion kilograms) of commodities valued at more than $7 billion. Wetlands and abundant high-quality water make Wisconsin the nation’s top producer of cranberries and 10th-largest producer of trout. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources sells more than 1,000,000 resident and 500,000 nonresident recreational fishing licenses annually, collecting over $1.1 billion in fees.

DNR estimates that those anglers spend another $2.1 billion in Wisconsin communities each year. Thirsty People—and Cows Wisconsin uses an average of 56 gallons (212 liters) of water per day per person from public water supplies and private wells. The national per capita average is 90 gallons (341 liters) a day. Wisconsin has 1.4 million dairy cows, each of which needs to drink 45 gallons (170 liters) of water a day to produce 100 pounds (45 kg), or 12 gallons (45 liters), of milk. Wisconsin public water utilities draw about 600 million gallons (2.3 billion liters) of water per day. The state’s 642 wastewater facilities release about the same amount of treated water daily. Water Power Wisconsin uses a total of more than 7 billion gallons (26.5 billion liters) of water per day—about 80 percent of it for thermoelectric power production. Wisconsin’s 50 fossil fuel power plants use nearly 4 billion gallons (15 billion liters) of water per day.

The state’s two nuclear power plants use about 2 billion gallons (7.5 billion liters) daily. Almost all of the water used for thermoelectric power production in Wisconsin comes from surface sources. Wisconsin has more than 200 hydroelectric generator units, which produce a total of 1.6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. Water Underground Groundwater use in Wisconsin totals about 760 million gallons (2.9 billion liters) per day. Wisconsin has about 800,000 private wells, most of which tap groundwater less than 50 feet (15 meters) below the surface. Seven in 10 Wisconsinites and 97 percent of the state’s inland communities depend on groundwater for their water supply. Rainfall over Wisconsin averages 32 inches annually (82 centimeters); only 6-10 inches (15-25 centimeters) of it soaks in to become groundwater. Common Contaminants More than 800 toxic contaminants have been identified in Great Lakes water and sediment. Nitrate—most of it from fertilizers—is by far the most common chemical contaminant found in Wisconsin groundwater.

More than 2 billion pounds (900 million kilograms) of nitrogen is added to Wisconsin soil annually, 80 percent of it from commercial fertilizers, manure and legumes. Statewide, nitrate levels exceed state and federal standards in 10 percent of the private wells sampled. Fifteen Wisconsin municipalities must treat their water to reduce nitrate levels. Arsenic occurs naturally in Wisconsin groundwater, but unnaturally high concentrations have been found in 23 of the state’s 72 counties. In 2002, Wisconsin issued a statewide advisory for mercury in all of its inland waters. Copyright 2013 University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, 1975 Willow Dr., Madison, WI 53706-1177 Phone: (608) 262-0905 If you have trouble accessing this page or wish to request a reasonable accommodation because of a disability contact us . Funding provided by the National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and the State of Wisconsin. RESOURCES FOR... Best beaches of Lake Michigan: A road trip through four states After the sweating, cool off in the surf.

America's freshwater Riviera On Lake Michigan's gorgeous beaches, everyone can find a spot in the sun. © Beth Gauper On the Upper Peninsula, Wells State Park doesn't get the crowds of beaches in Lower Michigan. It�s funny that some people in the Upper Midwest spend their summer vacations on the beaches of Cancun or Cape Cod, because the best beaches in the world are in their own back yard. Lake Michigan is America�s freshwater Riviera, a nearly unending strand of sand that looks like Florida without the high-rise condos. It�s clean, blue and pleasantly cool, with water temperatures in the 60s, and in most places it looks just like the ocean. Add in candy-striped lighthouses and even more ice-cream stands, and you�ve got the makings of a great beach holiday � a cheap one, too, if you're on a budget. We spent a week there in June, driving from one spectacular beach to another. The entire east side of Lake Michigan seems to be a beach; they�re at 18 Michigan state parks, dozens of city and county beaches and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

There�s also a national lakeshore in Indiana, a beach park in Illinois and unsung but beautiful city beaches in southern Wisconsin as well as sand-lined state parks farther north. We can�t name a �best�� beach, because the best is whichever one you�re at on a hot summer day, and there were way too many for us to check out, anyway. But here are a few we hated to leave. For tips on camping, see Camping around Lake Michigan . For details on cabins in Michigan state parks, see Michigan's great lake cabins . Michigan's Upper Peninsula We started at J.W. Wells State Park , between Menominee and Escanaba. It's just 25 miles from the Wisconsin border, so we're guessing it's popular with cheeseheads. This would be the place to go if you don't like crowds. On a gorgeous Saturday morning, less than a dozen people were on the well-kept beach, which is shallow and perfect for children. Just east of the park, we saw O.B. Fuller Park and a sign for camping, picnicking and swimming.

There were also lots of mom-and-pop resorts and motels, all with vacancies, plus many of the soft-serve ice-cream stands that have been pushed out by franchises elsewhere. U.S. 2 hugs the lake from Menominee to Rapid River and around Manistique, and there are plenty of beach pull-outs. It struck us that the west part of the Upper Peninsula would make a great last-minute beach trip � it's so far from the big cities, it probably never fills up. Michigan's Lower Peninsula © Beth Gauper The beach at Orchard Beach State Park north of Manistee is reached by stairs. The first thing we noticed in Traverse City is that everyone swims. Old people, young people, at all times of the day. No wonder, because this summer-resort hub has more than its share of beautiful sand beaches. On the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay, Traverse City State Park shares a beach with four hotel and condo resorts. On the West Arm, the marina is flanked by West End Beach and Clinch Park Beach, where there's a miniature steam train that gives rides and a concession building that rents kayaks for use on the Boardman River, which connects Boardman Lake to Lake Michigan.

We know this town gets crazy busy in the summer, but when we were there in late June, it had a mellow beach-town vibe. "I could stay here a week,'' Torsten said. We hoped to swim at the tip of the Old Mission Peninsula, while visiting Old Mission Point Lighthouse, but the rock-studded shoreline was shoe-sucking muck. It was the same on the other side of the bay, at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula in Leelanau State Park , home of the 1852 Grand Traverse Lighthouse. But Leland and Northport have great little beaches, and we also saw one at Suttons Bay, a boutique town closer to Traverse City. Traveling down the back of Michigan's "mitten,'' we came to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore , which has lots of beaches. For more, see Grand sand . We liked the one in the town of Empire best. It has basketball and volleyball courts, an old-fashioned playground and a picturesque little lighthouse, a memorial to a local fisherman who always wanted a light to guide him home.

For kids, there's a beach with warmer water on South Bar Lake, just across the parking lot, with a dock that children like to run down and jump off. Just north of Manistee, we came to Orchard Beach State Park . At the turn of the century, this blufftop, from which stairs lead to the beach, had a theater, boardwalk and pavilion, connected to town by streetcar. In 1921, the state bought it and put in a 166-site campground. Now, campers get their own uncrowded beach, though they have to climb the stairs to use a bathroom or get a drink. It's a gorgeous beach; on the morning after a storm, the lake was kicking up a few whitecaps, and the beach looked more like the Caribbean than Michigan. Some serious beach towns © Beth Gauper A decorative lighthouse stands on the town beach in New Buffalo, Mich. You'll find the crowds at Ludington State Park just north of Ludington . You could spend a week here without stepping out of the park, and no doubt many people do.

We watched families tubing down the Sable River, riding bikes on trails, swimming in Hamlin Lake and walking through the dunes to the Big Sable Point Lighthouse. That night, a Dixieland jazz band played in the amphitheater. We picnicked along the river, rode bikes to the lighthouse, chatted with the volunteer keeper and a friendly campground host and looked inside the concession/gift shop, which sells rafts and tubes. The road from Ludington is lined with dunes, and according to our park map, there's a state-park beach on Lake Michigan. But there was so much else to do, we completely forgot to check it out. We skipped Mears, Silver Lake and Duck Lake state parks but drove through Muskegon . Flat, wide Pere Marquette Park looks like a beach in California, and houses across the street have sand in their yards. It was the end of the day when we arrived at Holland State Park in Holland , but people still were heading toward the beach along Ottawa Beach Road, the only access. The park is a favorite spot to watch the sunset, which turns the harbor lighthouse flame-red, and to walk along the breakwall and boardwalk.

The next morning, we watched bicyclists laden with beach towels streaming into the park, whose parking lot fills by 10 a.m. on holiday weekends. The beach is not as shallow as some of the others, so I got in a good swim. © Beth Gauper Big Red stands at the Lake Macatawa entry to Lake Michigan in Holland. I didn't get to try even one of the 24 flavors of soft-serve from the pavilion cafe, because we had to move on to Saugatuck . We had lunch and checked out the shops but not Oval Beach, which you can reach from downtown via a hand-cranked chain ferry across the Kalamazoo River. Farther on, in South Haven , there was an e-coli alert at South Beach, so we kept going. Too bad � we know it's a favorite getaway for many people. When we got to Warren Dunes State Park , on the Red Arrow Highway near Sawyer, it was 86 degrees and I was dying for a swim. We stayed until the sun went down, swimming and walking along the beach; like everyone else there, we were reluctant to leave.

Now that we were close to Chicago, we figured the beaches would become unbearably crowded and the towns unaffordably chic. But we really liked the relaxed beach atmosphere in New Buffalo , the closest town to the Indiana border. People were streaming across a causeway from the little downtown, where a few boutiques mixed with a pharmacy, a dollar store and the ubiquitous fudge shop. We joined them and spend an hour on the beach. We saw train tracks through town and stopped at the nearby Harbor Grand Hotel & Suites, where a friendly desk clerk handed us a schedule for Amtrak's Wolverine and Blue Water Service . The train leaves Chicago's Union Station three times a day and arrives in New Buffalo two and a quarter hours later. Now there's a painless weekend getaway. © Torsten Muller Three women walk along the beach at Warren Dunes State Park at dusk. On to Indiana And then we weren't in Michigan any more. Indiana made us nervous; according to our maps, we should have been in Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore , but we couldn't find it. Finally, after driving along a narrow unmarked road crowded by weeds, we found a beach, from which we were turned away because the parking lot was full.

We kept driving and, half an hour later, finally made it to the inland national-park visitors center, where an eager-to-please young ranger explained that the closest beach to Chicago, West Beach, actually was easiest to get into because entry costs $6. Before leaving the center, we watched a movie about the national lakeshore � created in 1966 on the same day U.S. Steel, which had bought 1,200 acres of the dunes, got public funds for the Port of Indiana. Hmmm. Then we kept driving west, past the ArcelorMittal steel mill in Burns Harbor to West Beach. The park was lovely, with golden dunes reflected in wetland ponds lined with lily pads. We walked the Secession Trail through the dunes, and then I cooled off in the water, though it was the first place where we'd seen algae and silt. The beach was beautiful, too, though flanked by steel mills, and we could see the skyscrapers of Chicago in the distance. Lifeguards kept watch on swimmers and, while we were there, tracked down two 12-year-olds who had wandered off.

© Beth Gauper The beach at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is flanked by steel mills. Swimming may not have been such a great idea, though. When I got home, I read that in 2007, in exchange for 80 jobs, Indiana regulators allowed BP to release 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more sludge � 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of sludge each day � into the lake from its refinery near Indiana Dunes. Illinois Chicago has 15 miles of beaches along its 29 miles of shoreline. The Ohio Street Beach is a stone's throw from Navy Pier, and Oak Street Beach adjoins the Gold Coast. There's a party atmosphere more like a beach resort than a huge metropolis, with restaurants blaring '50s music, sand volleyball pick-up games and cafes set up on the sand. There are lifeguards, too, keeping long hours. A fun and easy way to visit the beaches is by bicycle . There's a different atmosphere at Illinois' only state beach park � call it neglect and decay.

Illinois Beach State Park has six miles of sand from Waukegan to the Wisconsin border, but concession buildings and bathhouses are boarded up and parking lots overgrown. Why? A concessionaire I found filling a pop machine next to a beach house condemned in 2002 attributed the sad state of the park to greed, political apathy and the state budget deficit. Only on the Fourth of July, he said, is the large parking lot full. The beach itself is perfectly nice, and the park, which includes campsites, was filled with a gorgeous array of wildflowers, many more than we'd seen anywhere else. Too bad, Illinois. Wisconsin Just across the border, Kenosha has a beautiful sand beach. Simmons Island Beach is bordered by a long concrete pier, and at the end sits the red 1901 Pierhead Light. A shorter breakwater light, white with a green stripe, is on the other end of the harbor entrance. Up on the hill is the 1866 Southport Lighthouse, built of Cream City brick. Racine has North Beach , a broad expanse of lovely white sand with a wooden castle playground called Kids Cove.

Concerts are held downtown at the marina, where there�s a red 1910 breakwater light. Nearby, Pershing Park has a fountain with two dozen jets that kids like to run through on hot days. © Beth Gauper Not far from Chicago's Magnificent Mile, Oak Street Beach draws crowds. Milwaukee also has beautiful beaches, including the gleaming white sand of Bradford Beach , which has lifeguards, a bathhouse, concession buildings and volleyball courts. Between Port Washington and Sheboygan, Harrington Beach State Park has a mile of beach and a new campground. Just south of Sheboygan, Kohler-Andrae State Park has a long beach lined by dunes. It also has an accessible beach trail and two beach wheelchairs. In Sheboygan , Deland Park has a large, lovely white-sand beach with playgrounds, restrooms and the salvaged wreck of the Lottie Cooper. It's also a favorite of surfers, who show up on on windy days and after gales. Point Beach State Forest , north of Two Rivers on Lake Michigan, has a lovely white-sand beach and a classic lighthouse. There's a nature lodge/concession center, too.

For details, see Two trails from Two Rivers . In Door County , Peninsula State Park on Green Bay is almost like a resort, with bicycle trails, a professional theater and a golf course as well as beaches. Newport State Park , Wisconsin's only wilderness park, includes Europe Bay, a beautiful, quiet crescent of sand lined by wildflowers. In Baileys Harbor, the beach at Ridges Road County Park is breezy, cool and a favorite of kiteboarders. At the tip of the peninsula, the east side of Rock Island State Park is lined with beaches, mostly enjoyed by campers. Access requires two ferry crossings. For more, see Wisconsin's Icelandic outpost . © Beth Gauper Planning: For more about travel around Lake Michigan, see Circling Lake Michigan , Planning a Circle Tour of Lake Michigan and Lake Michigan with kids . 2016 events in Michigan: Memorial Day weekend, Fort Michilimackinac Pageant at Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City. June 10-12, Lilac Festival parade weekend on Mackinac Island. June 11, Wine & Food Festival in Leland. June 16-19, Harborfest in South Haven.

June 25, Traverse City Wine & Art Festival . June 23-25, St. Ignace Car Show. July 2-9, National Cherry Festival in Traverse City. © Beth Gauper Just north of Two Rivers, Wis., Point Beach State Forest has spectacular beaches. July 4 and every Saturday through Labor Day, Fireworks Over the Bay from St. Ignace. July 2-3, South Haven Art Fair in South Haven. July 16-23, Venetian Festival in Charlevoix. July 29-Aug. 7, Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven. Aug., Waterfront Festival in Menominee. Aug. 11-14, National Blueberry Festival in South Haven. Aug. 26-28, Rendezvous at the Straits traditional powwow in St. Ignace. Aug., Festival of the Horse on Mackinac Island. Sept. 5, Mackinac Bridge Walk across the Mackinac Straits. And consider the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends a big festival everywhere. Aug. 4-6, Brat Days in Sheboygan. Aug. 5-7, Lakeshore Weekend in Manitowoc. Sept.

3-4, Kites Over Lake Michigan in Two Rivers. Milwaukee has non-stop festivals in its 90-acre lakefront Henry Maier Festival Park. They include Polish Fest in June, the big Summerfest music festival in June-July, Festa Italiana and German Fest in July, Irish Fest and Mexican Fiesta in August and Indian Summer Festival in September. How They Were Made How They Were Made Thousands of years ago, the melting mile-thick glaciers of the Wisconsin Ice Age left the North American continent a magnificent gift: five fantastic freshwater seas collectively known today as the Great Lakes -- Lake Superior , Lake Huron , Lake Michigan , Lake Erie and Lake Ontario . From the westernmost tip of Lake Superior at Duluth, Minn., to the easternmost tip of Lake Ontario at Watertown, N.Y., lakes stretch a thousand miles across the heartland of both the U.S. and Canada, creating nearly 9,500 miles of ocean-like shores. The lakes also contain an estimated 35,000 islands. Officially dubbed "the nation's fourth seacoast," the U.S. Great Lakes shoreline alone totals more than 4,500 miles -- longer than the U.S.

East and Gulf coasts combined. As seen from space , the Great Lakes constitute one of the most identifiable features of the North American continent as well as our planet Earth. The North American Great Lakes are unique among the world's large lakes in that their basins are linked together and form one continuous drainage basin. Together, they constitute the greatest freshwater system on Earth, covering an area larger than Texas and about half the size of Alaska. Starting in Lake Superior, the water flows out the lake's southeastern tip down the St. Marys River into Lakes Michigan and Huron, which actually are two halves of one lake. From there, the water flows southward from the southern tip of Lake Huron down the St. Clair River through "little" Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River to Lake Erie. Leaving Lake Erie, it flows north via the Niagara River and over Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario. It then flows northeast down the St. Lawrence River -- the last link in a 2,000-mile-long waterway that ultimately connects Minnesota to the Atlantic Ocean.

However, this stair-step arrangement of basins is relatively new and resulted from the slow rise of the land as it rebounded from the depressing weight of the mile-thick ice sheets. Lake Erie and southern Lake Michigan (Lake Chicago) were first unveiled by glaciers about 10,000 years ago. Both originally drained to the southwest, out the Maumee-Wabash-Ohio and Des Plaines-Illinois rivers, respectively, to the Mississippi River. About 9,000 years ago, the early stage of Lake Superior, called Lake Duluth, drained southwest out the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers, along what is today the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. About 7,000 years ago, as the last ice left, the land to the southwest of Lakes Erie and Michigan had risen high enough that the lakes no longer drained in that direction. Lake Ontario came into being, and the Niagara River became Lake Erie's outlet. As the ice sheet retreated into Canada, it temporarily made Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron into one huge body of water called Lake Nipissing, which had the unusual quality of having three outlets -- via the Ottawa-St. Lawrence rivers, Detroit-St.

Clair rivers and Illinois-Mississippi rivers. Lake Huron continued to drain eastward out the Ottawa-St. Lawrence rivers until about 5,000-6,000 years ago. Lake Michigan continued to drain out the Illinois River where Chicago now stands until about only 3,000 years ago, when the Great Lakes finally assumed their present shapes. The Great Lakes today hold an estimated six quadrillion gallons of water -- a fifth, or 20 percent, of all the drinkable water on the surface of Earth. If all the water in the Great Lakes were spread evenly over the continental U.S., the 48 states would be flooded under more than nine feet of water. The surfaces of the lakes total more than 94,000 square miles -- covering an area about the size of the entire state of Oregon. The awesome sizes of the Great Lakes amaze just about everyone seeing them for the first time. These lakes not only look like oceans, they often seem to behave like oceans.

They have coastal currents -- including dangerous rip currents -- and occasional large tide-like changes in coastal water levels called seiches (pronounced "say-shez") caused by prolonged strong winds and passing storms, as well as storm surges and edge waves. Like the oceans, the lakes also moderate the temperature of the air and increase the amount of rain or snow that falls on the lands surrounding them. Some of the world's largest grain shipping ports are located on the Great Lakes, and oceangoing ships as well as 1,000-foot lake vessels ply their waters. Sailors who have weathered storms on the Great Lakes give these inland seas the same healthy respect they give the other Seven Seas -- perhaps an extra measure of respect when the icy "Gales of November" blow early, because the freshwater of the lakes freezes more quickly than ocean saltwater, and a heavy coat of ice can easily capsize and sink a ship. The lakes' water is usually cold to begin with, because the Great Lakes lie across the 45th Parallel -- halfway to the North Pole from the Equator and just 1,200 miles from the Arctic Circle, less than the distance between New York City and Miami.

Coupled with the vast forest, agricultural and mineral resources of the area, the abundant supply of water and cheap transportation afforded by the Great Lakes were major factors in the region becoming the population and industrial core of both the U.S. and Canada. About 50 million U.S. and Canadian citizens live and work in the Great Lakes region today, and around half of them depend directly on the lakes for drinking water. The United States' third largest city, Chicago, is located on the shores of Lake Michigan, and the Great Lakes coastal cities of Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo, N.Y., have populations of more than a million people each. Ontario, the only Canadian province bordering the lakes, contains a third of Canada's population, while nearly 15 percent of the U.S. population lives in the region. Five of the 10 largest U.S. states by population are Great Lakes states (#3-New York, #5-Illinois, #6-Pennsylvania, #7-Ohio and #8-Michigan).

The iron ranges around Lake Superior have been the principal source of ore for North America for more than a century, and the economy of shipping large quantities of ore on the Great Lakes -- plus the abundant supply of high quality water for processing it -- have made the region a center of iron and steel production. Until recently, the shores and hinterlands of Lakes Ontario, Erie and Michigan held the world's largest concentration of iron and steel mills. Even today, about half of the steel made in the U.S. and and nearly two-thirds of Canada's steel is produced in the Great Lakes region. The region's other major industries include automobile manufacturing, heavy machinery, paper mills, metalworking and shipbuilding. In addition, some 163 million tons of grain, iron ore and other commodities are shipped across the Great Lakes each year, and the sport and commercial fisheries of the Great Lakes currently contribute more than a billion dollars a year to the region's economy. Along with the Upper Midwest's multitude of lakes and forests, the Great Lakes help support a substantial regional tourism industry.

In fact, a 2011 analysis by the University of Michigan concludes that the Great Lakes generates $62 billion in wages each year and that more than 1.5 million jobs are directly connected to the waterways. Together, the U.S. and Canada share responsibility for protecting and caring for one of the most valuable natural treasures in the world -- five magnificent gifts of the glaciers. Copyright 2013 University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, 1975 Willow Dr., Madison, WI 53706-1177 Phone: (608) 262-0905 If you have trouble accessing this page or wish to request a reasonable accommodation because of a disability contact us . Funding provided by the National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and the State of Wisconsin. RESOURCES FOR...

Question: Four US states border Lake Michigan - Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin are three. Which is the fourth?
Answer: Indiana